Caribena versicolor
| Caribena versicolor | ||||||||||||
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Caribena versicolor , subadult animal |
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Caribena versicolor | ||||||||||||
| ( Walckenaer , 1837) |
Caribena versicolor ( Syn . : Avicularia versicolor ) is a species of spider fromthe tarantula family (Theraphosidae). The species occurs in Guadeloupe and Martinique and is therefore sometimes also called "Martinique tree tarantula" in German. It was first described in 1837 by Baron Charles Athanasie Walckenaer . The species name is derived from the differently colored body parts.
features
The animals have a basic black color. They have purple to reddish hairs on the opisthosoma and extremities. The carapace, on the other hand, is colored shimmering green. The colors come out differently depending on the lighting. The female animals are 6 cm long ( measured from the biting claws to the spinnerets ). The males stay smaller. The nymphs are colored differently. They have a basic blue color and the opisthosoma has a wasp-like pattern. A dark stripe runs vertically towards the spinnerets. From this strip arise on each side further strips that run down and get wider. From the 5th to 6th nymph stage, the young animals begin to change color. With each moult, they more closely resemble the adult animal.
behavior
Caribena versicolor is an arboreal tarantula. She lives in a web of living space, which she creates at a height of a few meters in forks, knotholes, leaves or in furrows in the bark. When threatened, the spider tries to flee or it stretches the opisthosoma covered with stinging hairs towards the supposed attacker or shoots the attacker with feces. She seldom defends herself with her biting claws.
The offspring of animals kept in terrariums has been successful. Mating is usually peaceful. The females build a cocoon up to eight weeks later. This contains on average about 80 to 150 eggs. In young females it is 50 to 80 and in older females it is 200 to 300 eggs. The young animals leave the cocoon after about eight weeks.
Caribena versicolor , mother with nymphs
Caribena versicolor , juvenile animal in transition to adult color (7th scavenger skin)
Caribena versicolor , juvenile animal, freshly molt (9th scavenger skin)
Caribena versicolor in Martinique
Web links
Caribena versicolor in the World Spider Catalog
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c Boris F Striffler: The Martinique tree tarantula (Avicularia versicolor) + Avicularia minatrix, A. purpurea & A. laeta . Natur und Tier Verlag, Münster 2004. 3rd edition 2010
- ↑ Bastian Rast: A.versicolor Scientific name: Avicularia versicolor ( Memento from March 6, 2014 in the Internet Archive )